Federer Briefly Stops the Course of Time

It should be impossible that Roger Federer, he of the 17 championships and de facto G.O.A.T. until informed otherwise, should still be playing in the best matches of his life. Nor should it be possible that Novak Djokovic, one of the best players of all-time in his prime, should be pushed to his breaking point by a 32-year old father of four. But logic went out of the window in Sunday’s Wimbledon final, an instant classic in which Djokovic outlasted Federer to capture his second title at the All England Club over four electric hours.

Despite an unhurried progression through the tournament, Federer entered the match as the underdog because he is old, Djokovic is young, and Occam’s Razor is often the way of sports. “After all, there is logic to the universe,” Douglas Perry writes for the Oregonian. “The aging champion doesn’t beat the in-his-prime top gun.” But the match was tight from the beginning, with Federer squeezing out a first set victory in a tense tiebreak. “If you wanted to show a visitor from Mars just how gorgeous tennis can be, just roll out tape of the first set of this confrontation,” Peter Bodo writes for Tennis.com. “It was wonderful stuff from the start, featuring Federer demonstrating his newfound love of the approach shot and volley, and Djokovic demonstrating why his attacking, slashing game is more difficult to pursue successfully than ever before.” With a pile of celebrities watching on, Federer looked to capture the spirit of 2003, 2004, 2006, and all the other years he ended up champion. It made little sense for a man his age, someone who’d suffered through a miserable 2013 in which he appeared to be just another guy, rather than the balletic, transcendent player who’d staked his claim as the greatest. (Think Michael Jordan on the Washington Wizards.) And here he was, taking it to one of his best rivals.

“Maybe it wasn’t pure vintage Federer, but it appeared to be the basement tapes,” writes the Journal’s Jason Gay. “This was the Federer the Federer faithful had been hoping for, perhaps quixotically, during those vulnerable stretches in which his game appeared to be slipping, and worse, looked outmoded.”

It was just as enthralling when Djokovic, undeterred despite a recent streak of letdowns at the majors—he was winless in five of his last six finals—managed to grind back into the match, taking the next two sets despite peerless play from his opponent. This was difficult for Federer to stomach: The idea that he could play a perfect third set, serving tons of aces and rarely hitting errors, and still lose in a tiebreak. The match seemed like it would be over when he went down a break in the fourth set, and had to save a championship point on his serve. But in the most thrilling part, he managed to battle back and force a fifth set—one that he lost, sadly, but with a flicker of the old dream renewed in every fan for whom Federer represents something ineffable, what tennis (and sports, in general) can be at its highest level.

“Sentiment forever favors Federer, his ambassadorship for the game so deep that a big chunk of the public could never see him win enough and would like to see him turn the entire field into perpetual yard mulch,” writes Sports on Earth’s Chuck Culpepper. “Justice seemed to want Djokovic, on the premise that if you contend that often and that commendably, you’re damned good enough to sort out things at least as often or not.”

So it was Djokovic who celebrated as champion, and renewed his prospects for winning more rather than stagnating. It was Federer who expressed “an unbelievable sadness,” and made optimistic predictions for what he might be able to accomplish at this age and place in his career. He was the oldest finalist at a Grand Slam since 2005—in the future, he may become the oldest finalist at a Grand Slam since 2014. Time moves forward, though for a few hours on Sunday, it seemed to be in reverse.

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The Brazilian national team has been working toward this World Cup for years, and carry high expectations that they should end the tournament as champions because they’re playing on home territory, where they haven’t lost a meaningful game in nearly four decades. But the Seleção’s hopes were diminished on Friday when Neymar, the flamboyantly-haired prodigy, was injured after being struck in the back by Colombia’s Juan Camilo Zúñiga during a physical match in which Brazil eventually prevailed. Neymar, however, was ruled out for the tournament, a devastating blow considering his zippy, creative play and his greater significance to his country. (In one horrific timeline, he may have been paralyzed.) “No president has been assassinated, no child has died, no natural disaster has struck,” writes Sports Illustrated’s James Young. “So why all the fuss? Because Neymar is not just a soccer player. In Brazil, Neymar is something much more.”

Neymar will recover with time, though Brazilian doctors have had to insist that, no, he cannot rush back from a broken back. Instead, he’s filmed a teary update in which he vowed he’d be back for 2018. Brazil has also sought the maximum punishment for his injurer, who insisted he wasn’t intentionally trying to break Neymar’s back. But the real worry is that without their star, Brazil will be defenseless against Germany in their Tuesday semifinal match. The good news is that they aren’t a one trick pony. “Even without Neymar and Silva, the team remains the leading contender to win the World Cup in our estimation,” writes 538’s Nate Silver. “You may or may not agree with the math, but the intuition behind it is this: Soccer is a team sport, and Brazil is a very deep team.” But if they lose, Brazil will always wonder what would’ve been if not for a knee to the back.

SPORTS, THE JOURNAL WAY

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